She started asking questions, started documenting, started building a case because Lisa deserved justice and nobody else would get it for her.
And Haywood killed her for it.
They ran Emma off the road. Made it look like an accident. Something the local police investigated and closed as a tragic loss of control on a mountain highway.
Rhys eventually got justice for Emma. Hunted down her killer and made him pay.
But Emma never got justice for Lisa Reynolds. The girl's case went cold. The trafficking network kept running because the killer had a federal badge and the authority to make evidence vanish. And Sela's found the evidence that could finally bring him down.
My phone vibrates on the table. Rhys, calling on the encrypted line.
I answer, keep my voice low. "Yeah."
"Cara said she sent you the files. You see them?"
"Looking at them now." I glance toward the bedroom door. Still closed. Sela's breathing still uneven through the wood. "It's Haywood. Emma photographed him with Montrose repeatedly over months. Transaction records, intercepted communications, task force redirections. She documented everything."
Rhys goes quiet for a moment. Background noise filters through the line. Harlow's voice, probably coordinating with the task force. "Haywood was part of Stormwatch. He's the one who testified against Cara."
"I know." I click through the photos again, studying Haywood's face. He looks confident. Controlled. Used to being believed. "Emma built a solid case, but she didn't know she was looking at the man who might be The Marshal. She thought she'd found a dirty agent protecting traffickers. Didn't realize he was running them."
"Does it matter? Evidence is evidence."
"It matters because Emma didn't just find a dirty agent. She found evidence the entire operation was being run from insidethe FBI. That's why they killed her. She got too close to the top." I close the laptop. Can't look at those photos anymore without wanting to put a fist through something. "We're not just going after a corrupt agent. We're going after someone with bureau resources, federal authority, and the ability to make people disappear."
"What's our play?"
"Cara keeps working the encryption. There's more data Emma locked down that we haven't accessed yet. Could be names, locations, the full structure of how this thing is run." I stand, scan the darkness beyond the window. There's nothing out there but trees. "Meantime, we keep Sela alive. Haywood knows she has the drive. He'll come for her."
"You got backup if he does?"
"Finn can get here fast if I call. You're too far out. That leaves me holding ground alone until reinforcements arrive."
Silence on the line. Rhys is calculating the same thing I am. Response time versus assault duration. Professional contractors can breach and clear a structure like this cabin in minutes if they know what they're doing.
"I can call Caleb," Rhys says finally. "He's mobile, could get there faster than Zeke or I can stage from town."
"No." The answer comes fast. "Not that I don't trust Caleb, but the more people we bring in, the more comm traffic, the more movement. Haywood's got reach. Could have assets monitoring communications, watching for patterns. We bring in anyone else, we might as well send him an invitation."
"So you're alone."
"I'm prepared." I scan the treeline out of habit. "Cabin's defensible. Single approach vector. Good sight lines. Motion sensors on the perimeter. I'll have warning if anyone comes up that access road. And Sela's armed with my backup Glock. She can shoot. We've got hunting rifles if it comes to that."
"Can you hold?"
I think about the access road, the single approach vector, the defensible position this cabin gives me. Think about suppressed weapons and professional contractors who move like ghosts through terrain most people can't navigate in daylight.
"I can hold," I say. "Question is how hard they'll push."
"Hard enough to recover the evidence. Not hard enough to attract attention they can't explain." Rhys pauses. "They'll try to make it look like an accident. Propane leak, structural fire, something the state troopers will write off as tragedy instead of murder."
"I'll watch for it."
"Marc." Rhys's tone shifts, becomes something more personal than professional. "Sela's not trained for this. She's tough, but she's a civilian. If they breach the cabin..."
"I know." I cut him off before he can finish the thought. Before he can say what we both already know. "I'll keep her alive."
"See that you do."
